On the morning of Saturday, April 15, 2023, Dr. Hadeel M Abdelseid and the medical teams at the different departments were preparing for their routine activities at the police hospital in Khartoum, Sudan. They were compiling reports for the morning rounds with the specialist when, all of a sudden, the world fell apart. Loud noises approached the hospital, followed by the sounds of gunshots and explosions that had everyone covering their ears. No one knew what was going on.

After a couple of minutes, they learned that an armed confrontation over the country’s governance had broken out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and a paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). In less than half an hour, the Emergency Room (ER) started to receive many injured people, including civilians and patients from the battle. « We needed to protect our patients and decided to evacuate the cold cases, leaving only the critically ill patients in place. However, this intervention was difficult because the Police Hospital lies in a sensitive area between neighborhoods, the airport, and the General Command of the Armed Forces. Additionally, most of the streets around the hospital were occupied by the RSF », confides Dr. Hadeel

As the ER grew crowded with injured people, all elective surgeries were canceled, and the theater was prepared to handle the most serious injuries. The time to escape was gone. “We found ourselves stuck in the hospital, busy removing bullets and saving lives », she reveals.

The Situation Worsens

By Sunday night, the situation worsened, and the RSF bombs were falling around the hospital, with the number of injured patients increasing. Towards midnight, the hospital was evacuated and was officially out of service by Monday. They had to evacuate ourselves. « At that time, they were kidnapping doctors, so we had to change our clothes into civilian attire and hide our identity cards. We managed to get out in a civilian’s car. I was terrified, and still, I had to stay strong to live and save my patients. Bombs and heavy weapons were all around us. I wasn’t sure if I would get out alive, but still, we had hope,” recalls Dr. Hadeel.

Soon they were running out of basics; no food, no electricity, no water. Within days, most hospitals were either working with minimal capacity or providing only first aid and basic emergency care. The post-COVID-19 and post-revolutionary Sudan healthcare system was already fragile. Now, it was collapsing, and almost all hospitals were being evacuated due to the airstrikes, random shootings, lack of safe passages, and direct attacks on healthcare personnel.”Sometimes, I had to wear garbage bags to protect myself while treating injured people because we didn’t have a lot of personal protective equipment,” shares Dr. Abdelseid.

A New Beginning

After a month of displacement, looking for safety, I was hiding and living with refugees about 50 miles away from home. When I made it back to my family, I found many sick patients wanting to see doctors, and access to hospitals was difficult. Thus, we started a neighborhood-based emergency clinic.”I believe that resilience is one of the strongest leadership qualities,” states Dr. Abdelseid.

“So, I contacted international specialists to start online training and telementorship on Emergency Care and Trauma management for local medical professionals, enabling them to deliver care in community-based clinics using the available limited resources”, she adds.

The online training was done through the Sudan ECHO Center of Excellence, the Global Project ECHO, The Federal Ministry of Health, and the World Health Organization. They managed to deliver 44 sessions to more than 2,200 learners and health professionals from different backgrounds, including doctors, nurses, lab technicians, public health professionals, and senior medical students.”With my story, I want to emphasize resilience and hard work. Despite all the struggles of displacement and uncertainty, we managed to live and help people,” says Dr. Abdelseid.

Dr. Abdelseid went to a therapist to help her with PTSD symptoms. Through therapy, medications, and psychotherapy sessions, she learned a lot from the experience. Today, after recovering, she is planning to provide mental health support through an online ECHO program.

Dr. Hadeel M Abdelseid’s story is one of courage, resilience, and dedication. Her commitment to her patients and her efforts to adapt and innovate under the direst circumstances serve as an inspiration to many in the medical community and beyond.